Quite a mix, when it comes to the Final Four in Major League Baseball.

The defending champion Philadelphia Phillies are looking to be the first team to even appear in back-to-back World Series since the 2000-01 Yankees, and the first to repeat since the Bronx Bombers of 1999-2000.

The New York Yankees, after a long (for them) four-year absence, are back in the American League Championship Series.

The Los Angeles Dodgers are still trying to come to terms with the fact that Kirk Gibson’s heroics in 1988 headlined their last World Series appearance, much less their last championship.

And the Los Angeles Angels, stung by tragedy so early in the season with the shooting death of pitcher Nick Adenhart, are going for their second World Series appearance in the past eight seasons (they won it all in 2002).

And that’s just the beginning of the storylines, as the ALCS and NLCS get ready to blast off.

A quick look at the two best-of-seven series:

ALCS: Yankees vs. Angels

Fun Fact: This is the first time ever that the ALCS has pitted two teams who both swept their divisional series.

Not that it matters, necessarily, but the Angels and Yankees have met twice in post-season history—-and the Angels won both times (2002 and 2005 ALDS).

But in 2002, Alex Rodriguez wasn’t part of the Yankees, and in 2005, he was part of them but failed to show up.

That’s not the case in 2009—-at least not so far.

A-Rod has shut up certain critics—-yours truly among them—-and has peeled the monkey off his back that he’s been carrying around since ‘05 when it comes to playoff performances.

Rodriguez entered the ‘09 post-season in a 7-for-44 slump in ALDS play (the Yankees haven’t been in an ALCS since 2004, the year he joined them), during which time he had exactly one RBI and 15 strikeouts.

But against the helpless Minnesota Twins, A-Rod finally had his coming out party—-slamming two home runs and going 5-for-11 with six RBI.

Now, Rodriguez has another chance to appear in his very first World Series—-which is a fact that only Ripley could love.

The Yankees took the AL by storm this season, and this might be the strongest Bronx team since the ones that terrorized baseball in the mid-to-late 1990s.

Rodriguez awakening has such a ripple effect on the rest of the lineup, it’s not even funny.

But momentum often doesn’t carry over from one series to the next, and the Angels aren’t chopped liver.

The Angels only hit two homers to the Yankees’ six in the ALDS, but their ace in the hole was their pitching, which totally bamboozled the normally heavy-hitting Boston Red Sox.

So it’s the Angels’ slick arms against the Yankees’ brute strength. Should be a dandy.

KEY: If Rodriguez stays hot, and if the Yankees can get to the Angels’ bullpen earlier than the eighth inning, then odds are that we’ll see the Yanks back in the World Series for the first time since 2003.

Prediction: Yankees in six.

NLCS: Dodgers vs. Phillies

Fun Fact: The Phillies are the first defending champs to reach the LCS since the 2004 Yankees

Dodgers-Phillies used to scream LCS, back in the day. Now it’s heading back in that direction.

Between 1977 and 1983, the two teams met for the NL championship three times, with the Dodgers winning two of those matchups.

Now they meet again—-the first LCS rematch since the 2003-04 Red Sox-Yankees hookup in the American League.

The Dodgers haven’t been to the World Series since 1988, which is easily among the longest droughts that this venerable franchise has ever experienced.

The Phillies, on the other hand, have won just two World Series in their history, which dates back to the 19th century—-the 1980 and 2008 titles.

To repeat as champs of the NL, the Phillies will have to contend with a lineup that tore the cover off the baseball in the Dodgers’ three-game sweep over the St. Louis Cardinals.

Manny Ramirez hit .308—-and he was the least of the Cardinals’ worries.

The chief producers were SS Rafael Furcal and RF Andre Ethier, who each went 6-for-12 (.500) and scored seven runs between them.

For the Phillies, RF Jayson Werth went 5-for-14 and hit two home runs. Usual suspect Ryan Howard had six RBI as he went 6-for-16.

Lefty Cliff Lee led the charge on the mound for the Phillies with a 1.10 ERA in his two starts. The Dodgers counter with a bullpen that won two of the three games against St. Louis, and which surrendered just two earned runs and one walk in 9.2 innings.

KEY: One team tries to make history, and the other tries to reverse it. The Phillies have never appeared in consecutive World Series, and the Dodgers are in an 0-for-20 slump when it comes to capturing the NL flag. If Lee is on, as he was against Colorado, Philadelphia’s starting pitching can hang with LA’s. In that case, look for big guns like Howard and Shane Victorino and Werth and Raul Ibanez to outshine the Dodgers’ offense.

Prediction: Phillies in six.